"I'll make sure not to eat any flowers, then," Tony replied, feigning gravity. The gun itself still sounded bizarre, and he puzzled over it for a few more seconds before remarking, "Sounds like a mutant. Or disgruntled-botanist-meets-Dr-Frankenstein."

Tony busied himself swapping out the old batteries for the new set. He eyed the dead ones, then set them back in the desk and leaned back.

"That bad?" he asked. "And yeah, I meant in case you get brainwashed. Or taken for whatever experiments they perform upstairs." He broke off, grimacing at the thought.